The British government plans to introduce a powerful new anti-discrimination bill to usher in the biggest overhaul of the equality legislation in over four decades.
LONDON: The British government plans to introduce a powerful new anti-discrimination bill to usher in the biggest overhaul of the equality legislation in over four decades.
The proposed legislation requiring employees to be treated fairly would replace over 100 Acts, codes and directives introduced since the sixties to outline prejudice based on race, faith, sex and sexuality.
Trevor Phillips, Chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, claimed that the new system would be easier for business to comply with.
He told The Sunday Telegraph: "I am examining proposals that could reduce the number of alleged breaches that go to full employment tribunal hearings, resented by businesses as a waste of time and money."
He said "even the most well-intentioned businesses, and there are an awful lot of them, don't know when they've complied (with the existing laws). It's almost impossible unless you have vast armies of bureaucrats."
The Bill will include measures to prevent mixed-sex clubs, such as golf clubs, from holding "ladies' days" and a right, enshrined in law, for mothers to breastfeed in public.
At present there are 116 separate pieces of equality legislation in force - 35 Acts, 52 statutory instruments, 13 codes of practice and 16 European Commission directives and recommendations. They come with 2,500 pages of guidance.
They make it illegal for people to be given less-favourable treatment on six grounds: race or nationality, sex or having had a sex-change operation, disability, faith, sexual orientation and age.
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